A semiconductor light emitting device such as a light emitting diode (LED) is a device in which materials included therein emit light when electrical power is applied thereto. In an LED, energy generated according to electron-hole recombination is converted into light to be emitted therefrom. LEDs are widely used as light sources in lighting devices and display devices, and as such, the development thereof has tended to be accelerated.
Recently, semiconductor light emitting devices using light emitting nanostructures have been developed as new semiconductor light emitting device technologies. Semiconductor light emitting devices using light emitting nanostructures have improved luminous efficiency, due to a surface area of a light emitting area therein being substantially increased due to light emitting nanostructures, and/or enhanced crystallinity. Also, since an active layer may be obtained from a non-polar plane or a semi-polar plane, a degradation of efficiency due to polarization may be reduced or prevented while droop characteristics may also be improved.
However, since a plurality of light emitting nanostructures may be disposed in a single apparatus, a problem may arise in that light emitted from any one light emitting nanostructure may be absorbed by an adjacent light emitting nanostructure, reducing external light extraction efficiency of the semiconductor light emitting device.
Also, in a light emitting nanostructure, a tip thereof may have a crystal plane different from that of lateral surfaces thereof, and in this case, even though an active layer is grown under the same conditions, the active layer positioned on the tip may have a different composition. Thus, the active layer positioned on the tip light may emit light having a wavelength different from that of other regions. In addition, a semiconductor layer formed on the tip may be relatively thin, leading to a higher possibility of leakage currents being generated.